I went to 3 different florists to get ideas of pricing and see what they could offer at certain prices. In the end I went with the florist who right off the bat seemed like she was very understanding of just how expensive weddings are. She seemed like she really wanted to work to give us something beautiful but practical, price wise. The great thing about her is she has worked at our reception hall before and loves the space so she had lots of great ideas of how to make use of that space at an affordable place. For example, it's a very new hotel with a modern, artsy feel to it, so she recommended something like this:
Still beautiful, but not overwhelming with flowers that's gonna break the bank. Then to save even more, she recommended doing these centerpieces on every other table and then on the other tables we can do a low, understated centerpiece. In the end, she was able to come in about $600-700 cheaper than the other quotes we got.
So really, my best advice is to shop around, talk to different florists and see what creative solutions they can offer you to give you the most bang for your buck.